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The Evolution Of Audio In The Automobile

10-2-13In 2012, 11.4 percent of all new vehicles rolling off lots around the world were equipped with some way for customers to connect to their smartphone. By 2016, that number is expected to jump to 60.1 percent according to eMarketer. That will only increase as the younger generation pockets a driver's license. As of today, iHeartRadio has a dedicated auto app called iHeartRadio for Auto and has relationships with Ford, Nissan, Chrysler, GM, and Toyota. Pandora is available on more than 100 different vehicle models. TuneIn has two million monthly active in-vehicle listeners. It's becoming crowded in that DASH and the consumer wants it all, including your product. The key to radio's future in the automobile is to stay popular. How do you do that? By providing the locals content they want. Content they simply cannot do without. Content they cannot find anywhere else.

Wayne Powell (pictured) is the GM and senior executive engineer of electrical systems at Toyota Technical Center, located in Ann Arbor, MI. He is responsible for developing multi-media telematics products at Toyota. In our interview with Powell, he describes how the smartphone is also revolutionizing how automakers think about production, as well as how the consumer now expects to be connected when they slide behind that wheel. We asked Powell what consumers are telling Toyota they want, how this is all going to play out in the next five years, and how AM/FM radio can remain the most popular content on that DASH. Here's our interview with Wayne Powell from Toyota

(10/7/2013 6:17:06 PM) Don't get suckered into this nonsense. The I PHone plugs right into the audio system. Lots of B.S. fueled by people trying to foist products on the market.